La Manga Rugby 7’s Competition

On the 13th June 2019, 1 Royal Welsh sent a 13-man squad to Murcia, southern Spain to compete in the annual La Manga Rugby 7’s competition. With an early 2am start, the squad departed Tidworth and landed in Spain feeling slightly worse for wear - nothing that a quick run around and recovery game of touch in the La Manga Club resorts swimming pool couldn’t cure!

The Action kicked off the following day providing three games for the Welsh lads. The first match was against the invitational side, and apparent favourites, 'The Nomads'. After a brutal game and a questionable decision of a No Try for the Welsh, the first game was a loss 14-10. Not one to feel defeated, the Welsh Warriors finished the day strong stringing two wins together and coming in a very close second in the table after day 1.

Day 2 was now the real test with two hard games to be played against a strong REME outfit who were looking to push the Welsh team out of their final spot. With a small amount of encouragement from the netball teams at the side-lines, the Welsh boys managed to pick their sore bodies up and put in two huge stints to win both games securing a place in the final against our original rivals, 'The Nomads'.

The final was played in the gruelling 30-degree midday heat and both teams were extremely worn down and beaten from the previous two days action. The first half was tremendously close with both sides scoring tries and essentially starting the second half even. The second half did not go quite as planned. After an unfortunate yellow card, 'The Nomads' scored twice in quick succession putting a nail in the fighting Welshmen’s coffin. The game ended 21-7 to The Nomads.

The presentation evening concluded the day, allowing the squad to fully rehydrate after a gruelling couple of days rugby. This was followed by a well-deserved rest day where the team visited the local beach and relaxed by the pool until they flew back home later that evening. They represented the regiment extremely well with a strong performance against professional 7’s players and gained a huge amount of support from the other teams at the festival.